Phew! Said I would get this up before the day ends! Pretty close, but here it is! Thank you to all for the comments, they make my work more enjoyable!

Chapter 4

He pushed his hands on the ground, groaning as he tried to stand. A crack sounded in his shoulder and he grunted at the sudden pain. No problem, he could deal with that. He had dealt with worse. He staggered around in the darkness, no idea where to go. He coughed and called out to the void.

"Teyla?" He heard no reply so continued forward, wandering aimlessly in the darkness while wincing as his body got used to moving again, muscles protesting as they worked for the first time in days.

"Teyla?" he called again.

"Here! Over here!" she cried out, relieved to hear him so close.

He almost fell over her in the dark, just managing to prevent himself from landing on top of her.

"How did you get free?" she asked hoarsely.

"Wrestled with the rope until it came loose," he answered gruffly. She smiled, knowing that Ronon was understating the feat.

He helped her stand up, holding onto her while her legs got feeling back. Cramp in her legs made her sway but he held her tight.

The twin suns were already beginning to rise and they were able to see each others' outline. Both looked as if they had just crawled out of a grave. Their faces drawn and gaunt, their eyes droopy and red. Dust covered them completely, irritating and scratching, their skin burned with raw pain.

"We have to get to McKay," Ronon said, remembering hearing Rodney screaming the night before.

"I only hope we are not too late," Teyla replied, a similar memory running through her mind. A scream stopped them in their tracks. Listening intently, they could hear growls in the distance, then another scream.

"Was that human?" Teyla asked, gripping Ronon's shoulder for support. He merely grunted and began moving again. They heard another scream and stepped up the pace.

"We better get to him quick."

They traveled as fast as their cramped muscles would allow in the direction of the noise, hoping that they would only reach a pack of wandering animals.

---

Sunlight burst over the horizon. This was going to be an exceptionally hot day, the heat was already fierce and the suns were only just rising.

His head was pounding and the sweat was already pouring down his face and neck, making him uncomfortable as he tried to open his eyes.

"I'm still alive?" he asked himself with complete disbelief. The Dust Dogs had not attacked him, though, he remembered images of them sniffing and pawing him through the night.

He was starting to fail, he could feel the weakness in his body, the numbness in his head. It would not be long before he dropped into a hypoglycemic coma.

It occurred to him that he should be dead already. He had not eaten in days, yet was still here, barely. His foggy mind realised that the days on this planet were shorter, maybe a lot shorter. Either that or the massive meal he had before he left Atlantis had been so full of sugar that it had sustained him this far.

His ears picked up a sound, and he smiled in a drunken like stupor. He was almost about to laugh when it hit him. Someone was coming towards him—he could hear their footsteps pounding on the dry, dusty ground.

I can't take this anymore. I can't!

As the sound approached, McKay hung his head lower, sure that this would be his last interaction with John Sheppard. His body trembled as he braced himself for what could be his final moments.

"McKay?"

He pulled his body as far as he could away from the voice, fearing the pain that was sure to follow.

"Please! Please…no! I…I…"

"McKay!" The female voice stopped his mindless pleading. A hand touched his shoulder and he flinched, his eyes closed tight. "McKay, what has he done to you?"

He opened his eyes and looked upon the disheveled forms of Teyla and Ronon looking down on his battered and bruised body. He blinked uncomprehendingly, not really sure that what he was seeing was real. His brain had played so many tricks on him, he did not want to believe this in case it was another lie, but the hand on his shoulder held firm and he really wanted to believe.

A small cool hand was placed on his burning cheek and his body began to shake violently.

They are real! They are really here!!

Ronon was behind him, loosening the ropes on his hands and feet. Unbalanced and weak, Rodney fell forward to the right, hitting the ground with a moan. Teyla knelt beside him, looking with horror at the broken and wounded man before her. She tore some rags from her sleeve and bound the wounds on his arm, wincing when he cried out.

"I didn't think I would get out of this," he gasped as Ronon helped him to a painful sitting position. His mind fogged and he almost passed out, feeling the strong hand on his shoulder pulling him straight again.

"Why did Sheppard do this to you?" Ronon asked, holding him steady.

"He…he said I am the weakest," Rodney answered, keeping his eyes low. "The one most likely to tell him what he wants. What did he do to you guys?" he returned, ferreting about in his pocket for his energy bar, his shaking hands making it hard to get at it.

They looked at each other, neither wanting to be the first to say it.

"Nothing," Teyla said quietly. "He tied us up, and made us listen to the results of his actions."

A quietness fell as McKay chewed hungrily on his retrieved power bar, ignoring the way it scraped his parched throat as he swallowed. Fleeting images of his friend beating him. Images of John's face, warped into an evil mask, staring at him, shouting at him.

"We should find cover. He'll be back soon," Ronon said, getting to his feet, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Think you can walk?" he asked, noting that the weakened and injured McKay could hardly even sit straight never mind walk.

"I'll have to. I am not going to be here when ...he comes back," he replied, finishing the last of his meagre meal.

Ronon found their weapons thrown a short distance from where Rodney had been tied. He gathered them up, handing each in turn to their rightful owners. Then he helped Teyla get Rodney to his feet, pained at the noises that the man made as his body straightened for the first time in days. Dizziness almost made him slump back to the ground, but they held him firm and upright, helping him through the pain and discomfort.

Rodney's head rolled back as they began to walk, his feet dragging at times, making him stumble, thus slowing their progress.

They took refuge within a small grove of wind stunted trees. From there they could see the tree stump that Rodney had been tied to, and they watched for Sheppard's approach.

Teyla worried for McKay. She could see that although he'd been rescued, his pain and injuries had weakened him immensely. She helped him lay flat when it was obvious he could not do so unaided. Within minutes he had fallen into a deep sleep—a sleep that his mind had ached for.

They let him rest. It was all they could do for him now.

---

The suns rose higher into the sky as the day moved on, the heat becoming unbearable. Rodney murmured fitfully in his sleep, muttering words of pain and fear.

"Please…please don't," he whispered. "No…John!"

Ronon looked stonily across the clearing, anger filling his mind as he listened to his friend suffer through his nightmares. If he found who had caused this, he would kill them. He knew in his heart that Sheppard would never do this to them, could never do this to McKay. He would hunt whoever was responsible and make them pay in blood.

Teyla cast worried glances every time Rodney made a noise. She could see him shrinking before her eyes. The once pompous and yet lovable egomaniac was laid there like a small child in a strange darkened room, crying to his fears. It hurt to see Rodney in such a state, angered her that anyone would make this man the trembling wreck she saw before her. She knew that Rodney McKay was at heart a strong man. He presented as a coward, hell, he even whined like a child, but in the end his courage shined through. The fact that this...this...thing had chosen to use Rodney out of all of them to try and escape this planet, made her sick to the core. As she turned from Rodney she saw a figure beyond the treeline. Sheppard walked leisurely across the plain from the direction of a heavily wooded area far in the east.

"It's Colonel Sheppard," she pointed.

At the words, McKay woke, a look of sheer terror on his poor face as he tried to get his sore body to move.

"All will be well, Rodney," the Athosian soothed, placing a calming hand on his arm.

The three watched as Sheppard broke into a run, quickly heading for the deserted tree stump. A roar of anger erupted from him when he reached the stump, staring into the distance to find the other stumps also lacking in captives. He looked around and roared at the empty surroundings, making McKay flatten to the ground.

Sheppard then turned and jogged back to where he had come from.

"He said he had crashed here, that he had been alone," McKay said to no one in particular. "He wants to get off this planet, and will kill us to do it."

"It will never leave this planet." Ronon angrily declared.

TBC

*****

A/N Well, that's as far as I have edited folks! Going to have to edit the rest tomorrow! Keep the comments coming, I am enjoying them immensely!